Speaker Mr John Reeves Thursday 5-Jan-2012
W
A J
hen John arrived at
the West Lodge on Thursday the 5th January 2012, I thought I recognised his face but I could not place where and when I had seen him.
fter a few moments talking to John it all fell into place and I realized I
had heard him speak at Bob Barklay's District Conference in 2010 and I knew we were in for an inspirational talk.
ohn, a keen sportsman and fan, was born in 1953. He married in 1975 and
by 1982 be was the father of two sons Dan and Tim. In 1986 he moved to Wickham Bishops and forged the friend- ships which later linked him to Chelmer Bridge Rotary Club, Bob B and his invi- tation to speak at conference. In 2002, a year which was to change his and the family’s lives, he set up his own consul- tancy business and continues to work for a range of private and public sector cli- ents. In December 2002, Tim was diag- nosed with acute leukaemia and the fam- ily’s lives and outlook were changed for- ever.
I
n December 2005, after putting up a brave fight, Tim died and it was then
that John, whose family were desperate for something good to come out of the tragedy, became instrumental in setting up the Tim Reeve Charitable Trust. The purpose of the trust was to help young people with blood cancers.
T o
launch the Trust and to honour Tim’s dream of attending the World Cup, John walked 550 miles to the 2006 World Cup in Germany, via Wembley Stadium and by the end of the year he had raised over £100,000 to sup- port research, clinical trials and im- proved care of patients.
I
n 2007 a book called A WALK OF FAITH was published in which John
described the challenging walk with all the tales of blood, sweat, laughter and lots of tears.
S
ince that time John and his family have continued to work tirelessly
for the Trust through talks such as the one he gave to our club and many other physical and emotional fund raising events. In 2009 he became a trustee of Leukaemia and Lymphoma research and in 2010 a consumer member of the NCRI Haematology Clinical Studies Group.
H
is passion and desire to see good come out of the work of the trust is
so obvious and inspiring and his talk was enthusiastically received and ap- plauded by the members.
Story & Photos provided by George Larkey
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